Guest Review: George On Lawless

James A. George, our film critic, on Lawless

Wettest County in the World. The Bondurant
brothers run a moonshine bootlegging operation in Franklin County, Virginia. Adapted from Matt Bondurant's
2008 novel The Wettest County in the
World about his grandfather and great-uncles is
the last collaboration between director John Hillcoat and part-time
screenwriter Nick Cave. This collaboration resulted in the most outstanding
western of recent decades, The Proposition in 2005. Along with Warren Ellis,
Cave is also responsible for Hillcoat’s soundtracks and hence the most
interesting sound and vision marriage in art that somehow stares the bleakest
subjects in the eye and makes them compelling.

Hillcoat
is an artist that really loves the canvas he gets to work with. Every inch of
the widescreen is used carefully and often characters will appear a lot nearer
to the edge of the frame than is standard, allowing the audience to take in a
lot of information at once and yet feel uneasy about the odd composition. The
heartfelt technicality of cinematography, production, costume and acting is
astute and precise with detail. The cast in fact is so enthralling that it
would serve as an ideal time capsule of the current crème de la crème of
American acting.

Tom
Hardy plays Forrest, keeping his hands in his grandma-esque cardigan pockets
and grunts awkwardly when presented with a naked woman yet the brooding living
legend stands hunches over nonchalantly when confronted with the law. He knows he
need not inspire fear, he is fully aware of his status as a local living legend.
What could’ve been a risky take on the character is done as Tom Hardy could,
and as an impressive an acting feat mirrored in the editing that juxtaposes
horrific violence with gorgeous countryside. Shia Labeouf as the main protagonist
Jack has almost redeemed his vacuous presence on screen yet doesn’t shine
convincingly enough among the calibre of Guy Pearce and Gary Oldman.

The
female characters portrayed by Mia Wasikowska and Jessica Chastain are
unfortunately under served and their stories seem equally interesting yet
unexplored. The element of mystery surrounding Chastain’s Maggie aid the
character somewhat and the story that exists is interesting enough and it is
far from the actresses’ fault as they deliver, but rather the two actresses
don’t get nearly enough screen time. Before the
hectic last few scenes, all the characters seem violent and malcontent and all
gangland hierarchy seems to collapse, perhaps fitting with how the last battle
unfolds. What originally defines the brothers is the fear surrounding them and
the horrific violence they can create, but by the end of the film it seems that
everyone is capable of this. The only difference is the prohibition law, and as
it is explained in the film, only years later does the alcohol ban get lifted.

Whether this is intentional or not, the ending gives the impression Hillcoat
and Cave were either reigned in by Hollywood or aimed for the mainstream. To
their credit, many times the events I thought I had predicted would take a sudden
twist I did not see coming.The film is very good but considering how interesting an artist Nick Cave is and the
master class in filmmaking Hillcoat presents us with, it just doesn’t quite pay
off. I felt distant and never quite passionate enough about what was unfolding
in front of me. The story is all a little murky and the stakes are never
realized. It is most certainly flawed but still an accomplished work and as
mentioned before, Hillcoat is truly a filmmaker deserving of large canvas and
cinema projection is the ideal way to see this wild ride.